Written by Ben D.
On April 15 and 16, in 2023, we went on the Caving Outing. The Caving outing was an outing on which we went into a cave and took a tour. We also went on a 5 mile hike.
We started off the outing at the Lucketts Community Center, where we got all the troop gear and backpacks ready. Then we got into the cars and drove to the cave.
When we got to the cave they weren’t open yet, so we had to wait half an hour. When they opened, we went down into the cave, being led by a tour guide, and started looking at all the different structures down there. We saw things like stalactites and stalagmites, bacon*, ribbons, calcite structures, and more! I learned that calcite becomes more sparkly the purer it is. The tour was super cool and I hope we can do something like that again as a troop.
When we got out of the cave, we planned our route for the 5 mile hike we were going to take, then headed for the campsite. When we got to a restaurant near the campsite we got out of the cars and hiked less than 0.25 miles from the parking lot to the campsite. When we got to the campsite we set up camp and had lunch. Then we started going to where the start of the 5 mile hike was.
The 5 mile hike was on the Appalachian trail and covered 2.5 miles each way. We hiked mostly uphill to the Washington Monument in Boonsboro, Maryland. The view was really good from the top of the monument. When we finished getting our great view and great pictures, we headed back to the campsite.
When we got back to the campsite, we had 10 minutes before it was time to cook dinner. After dinner and a “few” Oreos each, we had to clean. When we were done cleaning, we built a fire. After the fire was going for a while, it was time to put it out. Once we had put out the fire, We went to bed.
When we woke up in the morning we started cleaning out and packing up our tents. We made pancakes and bacon for breakfast and they were decent. When we finished cleaning, packing, and cooking, we played the game in which you pick up trash that you and others left behind. When we were finished with all of that, we hiked back to the cars and drove back to the Community Center.
*Bacon is the technical term for it
